Obama adviser: Health care rollout like a football game

Jan. 7, 2014
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Phil Schiliro / Charles Dharapak, AP

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

The Obama administration's new point person on the health care rollout compares the effort to a football game, and cites one specific example.

Just as the Indianapolis Colts rallied from a 28-point deficit to beat the Kansas City Chiefs this past weekend, the health care law is coming back from its rough start and will prevail, senior adviser Phil Schiliro said in a television interview.

"You can have a bad first half and a good second half and that's what matters," Schiliro told the Fusion program America with Jorge Ramos. "It's how you end the game."

Few people will remember the health law's early problems, such as the malfunctioning website, Schiliro said.

"In years to come," he said, "they won't remember the bad website in the beginning."

A former administration official, Schiliro returned to the White House late last year to spearhead the health care effort.

In addition to website problems, Schiliro and other officials are dealing with policy cancellations and other challenges.

"People received cancellation notices," Schiliro said. "That doesn't mean their insurance was canceled. In most cases, the insurance companies renewed their insurance. In other cases, they went to the exchange and and they found that they could get a much better deal than their existing plan."